Male rabbit nesting again!

[mollyisthecoolest]

I have a 7 month old male rabbit. He sometimes makes nests and when he does this, he usually runs around with hay in his mouth and makes a small nest in his ‘bedroom’. He spends no more than an hour on these nests.

Today, i tried to give him his breakfast and put him in his outside pen but he was busy making a nest. He was very frantic and ran around with all the hay he can find.
He’s spent over 3 hours on this nest and he’s still going. He’s ripped up the floor (cardboard) to put in his nest and he’s even put his fresh veggie breakfast into it.

I’m a little concerned as i don’t think this is normal. He’s not stopped for food or drink and he seems a little distressed by it, he only pauses if im stroking him. He is definitely male and he’s not had any contact with any other rabbit for 2 months. I can’t think of any reason why he might be doing this apart from being lonely or the warmer weather (23c today instead of the usual 20c)

Any advice would really help!

 

[mollyisthecoolest]

After 5 and 1/2 hours, he’s finally finished his nest but i’m still interested in hearing any theories on why he does this!

 

[John Wick]

Intersex rabbits exist that have parts from both sexes, so while very uncommon, you can consider whether your male may also have some female anatomy facilitating this. That will need to be investigated by a rabbit savvy vet.

 

[mollyisthecoolest]

Intersex rabbits exist that have parts from both sexes, so while very uncommon, you can consider whether your male may also have some female anatomy facilitating this. That will need to be investigated by a rabbit savvy vet.

Wow i had no idea that rabbits could be intersex, i’ll definitely have to look for a vet who knows lots about rabbits

 

[Preitler]

How do you know it's a male? Sexing them wrong is one of the most common issues with rabbits, I'm breeding them for 10 years now, and I still get a second opinion to be 95% sure. Most likely explanation is that the legendary Sex Change Fairy paid a visit and you've got a girl there. Behaves like a perfectly normal, intact doe.

 

[mollyisthecoolest]

How do you know it's a male? Sexing them wrong is one of the most common issues with rabbits, I'm breeding them for 10 years now, and I still get a second opinion to be 95% sure. Most likely explanation is that the legendary Sex Change Fairy paid a visit and you've got a girl there. Behaves like a perfectly normal, intact doe.

It was difficult to sex him as initially he looked female but on closer inspection he looked male but i’m definitely going to get a vet to double check!

 

[overhear]

How do you know it's a male? Sexing them wrong is one of the most common issues with rabbits, I'm breeding them for 10 years now, and I still get a second opinion to be 95% sure. Most likely explanation is that the legendary Sex Change Fairy paid a visit and you've got a girl there. Behaves like a perfectly normal, intact doe.

If the rabbit is indeed female, would that kind of nesting in the absence of pregnancy be a common behavior? My bunny was one and a half years old before she was spayed but I never saw anything like that. Very interesting!

 

[Preitler]

Yes, absolutly. False pregnancys with nesting etc. is a recurring event with intact does. It is individual different how often, like several times a year to never, and there can be triggers like being humped by another doe, petting the rabbit on her rear too much, changes in sunlight or a bicycle falling over in China or a butterfly there flapping its wings - who knows what goes on in those little heads...

 

[Momma Luvbun]

I was told my last bun was male. Then a vet visit said she was a girl.
She had many false pregnancies before I got her spayed.
Please consider spaying (or neutering if it is in fact male) because intact females are prone to cervical cancer.

This type of behaviour seems like a doe in nest mode.